Broken
by JONASxoxo
Summary: Sophie feels unwanted, overlooked and unimportant. She feels broken. And her boyfriend Nick is no help at all. So she turns to an unlikely source to help fix her.
1. Chapter 1

**Review please! That's how I'll know if I should keep going with this story. **

**As much as I wish I owned the Jonas boys, I don't. **

* * *

"Her song was amazing," Nick continued. "I knew she was going to sing. And I guessed she would play. But _write_ the song? Well, none of us were really expecting that. But it was really, really good."

Sophie nodded. She was laying in bed, sick. She'd been unable to attend the school's variety show, even though her best friend was performing, so Nick had called right after her to re-cap the entire show. She felt horrible for missing it and not being there to support Ellie. But at the same time, Sophie felt a little relieved that she hadn't gone. She always felt like a failure in comparison to her friend. After all, Ellie was good at, well, everything. And Sophie wasn't really good at anything.

"That's great, Nick," she said. Her voice was soft but Nick paid no mind to it, guessing it was just because she was sick.

"Anyway, Joe taped it. And Kevin offered to bring her to our uncle's studio so that she can record the song. Ellie's going to teach it to us so that I can play drums and Kevin can play guitar and maybe Joe can help her with vocals."

"Wow." Her voice lacked it's usual happy tone.

"Yeah, anyway, I should probably go. We're all going out for ice cream to celebrate Ellie's win. Want me to bring you some later?"

Sophie felt tears spring to her eyes. Not only was her friend really good, but she'd actually won. It didn't help that Nick just kept going on and on about how great she was. He was supposed to be _her _boyfriend. "No," she choked out. "I probably shouldn't have ice cream. Sick, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Nick said, his voice sounding as if he was a little pre-occupied. "Well I'll come by tomorrow morning, alright? I'll bring you some soup or something."

"Sounds good."

"See you then. Love you."

She forced a smile out of habit, even though he couldn't see her. "Love you too."

They hung up at the same time and Sophie felt relieved. She pushed her face into her pillow, trying to muffle the sound of her sobs. After a couple minutes, she began to slowly calm down. Inside, she was still burning but her tears had subsided. Sophie felt as though her heart couldn't take anymore. She felt worthless. All her friends had these amazing talents, whereas she was just the one who watched from the sideline. Always cheering and supporting but never actually being a part of the performance.

She sat up, resting her back against the wall. The few tears that still flowed down her cheeks were silent and her sobs were brief and rare. She didn't want to cry anymore. She just wanted something to help take the pain away. A small glimmer of light caught her eye from across the room, like some sort of beacon. She stood up, a bit dizzy from the medicine she'd taken earlier, and walked towards her desk. On it was a letter opener, shaped like a knife. She'd gotten it when she'd visited Toledo, Spain years before. It was reflecting the light from her lamp. Sophie picked it up and sat back on her bed, holding it gingerly.

Her mind raced. Maybe this could help her ease the pain that had filler her heart for so long now. She scraped the cold metal against her skin gently, not even hard enough to leave a scratch. A small smile formed on her face. As she thought, Sophie's brown eyes seemed to light up. Slowly, she pressed the opener against her arm with much more force than before. This time, when she dragged it against her flesh, a thin line of blood appeared. She inhaled sharply, slightly surprised by the pain. But when she exhaled, she felt so much better. It was like she was just letting go of everything bottled up. She felt relieved. Sophie moved the miniature sword higher on her arm and made another cut, gasping but exhaling slowly once again. She smiled. She'd finally found an outlet.

* * *

In the morning, Nick let himself into the house and up to Sophie's room. Her parents were usually out and didn't mind if he just walked in. Sophie was still asleep and he smiled a bit, nudging her gently. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

She groaned and rolled over, pushing him gently. He gave a small laugh and she sat up, rubbing her eyes and scooting over so that he could sit on the bed with her. "Where's my soup?" she asked groggily.

Nick's eyes widened and he smacked his forehead. "Crap! I totally forgot. I was too pre-occupied with forcing Kevin to make the DVD so that we could watch Ellie's performance."

"Oh." She forced a smile, yet again, trying to seem excited. She'd really just been hoping that the two of them could hang out, without him bringing up one of her talented friends. Especially not Ellie. Nick didn't notice the small hint of disappointment that tainted her words. He happily stood up, DVD in hand, and turned on the television that sat on the shelves across from her bed. Sophie sighed to herself.

Nick sat back down next to her and hit play on the remote. The film was shaky but Nick seemed pleased with it. He smiled as the emcee came on and announced that the next act would be Ellie Collins, singing an original song. He clapped, as if he was actually there in the audience. She came on and performed. Nick sat mesmerized. Sophie hardly payed attention. She'd heard Ellie perform more than enough times. Even when she wasn't on a stage, Ellie took every opportunity to show off her skills. Sophie knew that Ellie never meant to seem conceited or mean, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy every time.

When the song ended and Ellie took her bow, Nick stopped the DVD."Wasn't that amazing! It was one of the best songs I've ever heard. Plus she has such a fantastic voice. My brothers and I were thinking about asking Ellie to join our band. Wouldn't that be cool?"

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, that'd be wicked."

Nick nodded, obviously ecstatic about this plan.

"Could you wait here for a sec?" Sophie asked, standing up. "I'm going to go brush my teeth and what not real quick. I feel gross." He nodded and she walked into the bathroom.

She splashed water on her face and took a second to compose herself. Then she quickly ran her brush through her ratty hair and brushed her teeth. She glanced quickly at the marks left on her wrist from the night before. They were pretty faded and Nick would never notice them. She nodded in satisfaction before exiting the bathroom.

When she saw Nick again, though, she realized she'd forgotten something. Sure, he'd never notice the cuts on her arm. But the blood on her sheets? Yeah, he'd noticed that.

"What's this?" he asked, confused.

"Oh!" Sophie walked back around and sat next to him before continuing. She was trying to buy some time to come up with an explanation. "Last night my cat came in and jumped on my bed like usual. But I didn't want him near me, since I was really sick, so I picked him up and he clawed me pretty bad." She shrugged. "No big deal."

He didn't look as though he completely believed her but just shrugged it off as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the text he had received. "Who is it?" Sophie asked.

"Kevin," Nick said as he stuffed the phone back into his pocket. "He and Joe and Ellie are at my house. They want to meet and talk about stuff. Should be fun." Sophie held her breath, hoping he'd invite her along despite her lack of musical ability. "So I should probably go," he finished.

Her hopes fell. "Have fun."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. She watched him go, waiting to leave the room until he was completely out of the house. Once he was gone, she left the room and headed back to the bathroom. She rummaged through the cabinet under the sink until she found an old razor and examined it. It was sharper than the letter opener. A faint smile cracked on her face as she pressed it to her skin and felt the pain wash away.


	2. Chapter 2

**You have no idea how much I crave reviews. I'll just be that blunt about it. I don't care if they aren't that great. _Constructive_ critism is fine! Thanks bunches.**

* * *

Weeks went by and Sophie continued what she called, her method of stress relief. She felt out of the loop thanks to Nick's constant meetings with his brothers and Ellie. They had chosen to go through with the band. And they had chosen to not invite Sophie to a single meeting or include her at all. Sure, she had never been the best singer, she couldn't play an instrument and she'd never written a song. But they were her best friends. She'd hoped that they'd at least ask her opinion on things or maybe ask her to help with advertising and what not.

The amount of scars on her wrist was growing. Her cuts had grown deeper and more frequent. She didn't even feel the razor hit her skin anymore. She'd grown numb. All she felt was the pain she had inside being released. And it felt good.

But despite her newfound outlet, she made attempts to be re-accepted into the group that she had once felt such a close bond with. She tried to make dates with Nick, though most of the time he canceled. on her for band meetings. Or he spent the entire time talking about things that just made her feel inferior. She even wrote a song. But when she had tried to sing it for Nick, she'd just been pretty much shot down.

"Wow, nice job, Sophie." He had said. "It kind of reminds me of this song that Ellie and I were working on the other day..." And that was it for her song. Nothing more than 'nice job.' And then she'd had to listen to him gush about Ellie. Sophie was growing closer and closer to her absolute breaking point.

* * *

It was December, and Sophie was sitting in her house. Alone. Freezing. Nick was with Ellie. "Songwriting," he had told her. Apparently, he'd gotten a burst of inspiration that couldn't wait. So now she was sitting here, watching Discovery Channel with her fuzzy blanket wrapped around her. She was trying not to think about Nick. Hell, she was trying not to think about much of anything, except how unbelievably cold it was.

Her head was full of thoughts of the weather, the Cash Cab and the razor that she'd left upstairs when they were all shoved out by a sudden burst of music.

_"Throw it away, forget yesterday, we'll make the great escape..."_

Sophie jumped at the sudden noise but then scrambled to pick up her cell phone. She didn't check who was calling before answering. "Hello?"

A slightly overly-happy voice answered her. "Hey Soph!"

She smiled faintly. "Hey Joe. What's going on? Why aren't you at the song thing with Nick and Ellie?"

"Oh, I wasn't invited. Apparently they don't like my ideas. They aren't serious enough or something." Sophie contained a small laugh. She couldn't really imagine Joe having a serious idea. He continued. "Anyway, I'm at Starbucks and they have that peppermint hot chocolate you love so much. Want me to pick some up and head over to your place? I'm bored. And you've seemed kinda sad lately..."

"Yeah," she said after a moment. "I'd really like that."

"Cool! I'll be over in a few!"

"Just let yourself in, kay?"

"As usual."

"Yeah. See you then, Joe." she smiled as they both hung up. It was nice to have a friend and not feel so alone.

Joe showed up in about half an hour. Sophie hadn't moved at all and he handed her the hot chocolate before plopping down next to her. Being Joe, he got straight to the point.

"So why have you seemed so... upset, lately?"

Sophie sighed. "I just feel...unimportant, I guess. Nick's always with Ellie and you guys and when he's not, he's bragging about how amazing you all are."

"Aw, Soph. You know this has been his dream for a while. He's just excited."

She sighed, sipping her hot chocolate. "I know this is his dream. And I'm trying to support it. But it's so hard, you know? Being put in the back seat. Only useful when he's bored or something. I feel like I may as well not even be around at all anymore."

Joe gave her a hug. "I'm sorry... Want me to talk to him for you?"

She gave a small nod. "That'd be nice. Thank you, Joe"

He pulled out of the hug and smiled at her. "I'll do that, I promise. Just do me a favor and try to cheer up, okay? You know Nick doesn't mean to be an asshole. He's just so focused on his music career right now." Sophie nodded again and Joe gave her one more quick hug. "Sorry to run so quickly but I'm gonna get home and talk to him before I forget. And I want to try to write a serious song. To prove everyone wrong."

That drew a laugh from Sophie. "Joe, I can't imagine you _ever_ writing a serious song. I just don't think you have it in you."

He stood up and shook his head. "You'll see!" She just gave another soft laugh.

"Goodbye Joe!"

"Bye Sophie."

* * *

When Joe returned home, he was surprised to see that Ellie had gone home. Nick was alone, sitting on the couch, playing guitar. "Hey," Joe said as he sat down next to his younger brother. "Get a lot of work done?"

Nick smiled and nodded. "Yeah a ton of work. We have this great song coming along. But Ellie had to go home. So she's coming back over tomorrow. You and Kevin should stick around too for extra help."

Joe shrugged. "I think you should take a day off tomorrow."

His younger brother shot him a look that almost resembled one of shock. "Are you serious? But it's going so well! Why would I need to take a break!?"

"So you could spend some time with Sophie. She feels left out, Nick. It's hurting her that she's not involved."

"But, she knows she's not very musical! It's not that I don't like her, this is just important to me! Besides, I know Sophie. She would tell me if this was bothering her as much as you say it is. I don't think you have any right to start making assumptions about _my_ girlfriend." Nick stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

Joe sighed and leaned back on the couch. Nick obviously wasn't listening to either him or his girlfriend. Well, if Nick wasn't going to listen to Sophie, the responsibility rested on him. He wasn't going to let one of their oldest friends just become a memory.

* * *

Sophie woke up in the morning to her cell phone buzzing on the bedside table. She blinked, getting used to the light, and checked the clock: 10:32. She couldn't believe she'd slept that long. After all, she'd gone to bed early. Pretty much right after Joe left. She stretched her arms out and grabbed the phone.

"One new text"

Hopefully, Sophie opened the message, thinking that it might be from Nick. Instead, it was from Joe.

_Busy today?_

She frowned slightly but texted back quickly nonetheless.

_No._

She got out of bed and shook out her hair, waiting for a response. Her phone buzzed only seconds later.

_Good. I'll pick you up at noon. We're going out for the day._

_Who's 'we?' _She texted back.

Joe took a bit longer to respond this time. _Just you and me. Nick, Ell, and Kevin are doing stuff. _

Sophie stared at her phone in confusion before replying. _Why aren't you with them?_

Joe had returned to quick responses. _Right now, you need me more than they do. Noon. You don't need anything. See you then._

She smiled at the text in spite of herself. Okay, so it wasn't Nick like she wished it was. But it was Joe. And he was definitely a close second. She put her phone back on the table as she got in the shower so that she could be ready by noon. She couldn't wait to see what he had planned. Knowing him, it probably wasn't something normal.


	3. Chapter 3

**So this is a lot longer than the other 2 chapters and I don't think it's as good. But I needed to get it done since I have a good portion of the end already written. Review, please. Thanks! :)**

It was barely past noon when Sophie heard a knock on her front door, followed by someone entering the house. She smiled when she saw that it was Joe.

"Hey," he grinned. "You look good."

She gave a small laugh. She'd just thrown on a pair of gray jeans and a long-sleeved maroon shirt. "Thanks, I guess. You look good too. So anyway, what are we doing today? You seem to have something in mind."

"Ah," Joe took a step closer to her and offered her his arm. "The question is not what _are _we going to do, it's what _aren't _we going to do."

This drew another laugh from Sophie. "Joe, you stole that from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I know my eighties movies."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're a dork," he smiled, playfully pushing her.

"Shut up Joe," she smiled. This was the most she'd smiled in, well, in a while. "Where are we going?" She looked up at him, waiting for an answer as she linked her arm with his.

"I was thinking we'd start with," he paused for effect, smacking his hand on the wall as a sort of drumroll. "Laser tag!" He smiled widely, knowing that this was one of Sophie's favorite things in the world. At least, that's what Nick had told her. He'd also said it was one of the few physical activities she could beat him at.

Sophie, however, frowned a tiny bit. "Oh. Okay."

"What's wrong?" Joe asked, scared that he had done something wrong.

"It's stupid...Just...I dunno, I've never been laser tagging without Nick. Going without him makes it feel like we broke up or something..." She shrugged.

"But you two didn't break up," he said, trying to comfort her. "He's just busy with music and stuff. And today, YOU are busy hanging out with ME. It's just the two of us today, so don't think about him."

Her smile returned. It was fainter than before yet still genuine. "Alright. Today, it's just you and me."

He nodded as he began walking out to Kevin's car which he'd borrowed.

"When did you get your license?" Sophie asked as she hopped in the passenger seat.

"Like a week ago," he responded as he too got in. "It's about time. And Kev-o said I could use his car today if I'm extra super careful! So...let's go on the highway and race some people!"

She laughed. "He'll kill you!"

"Okay so... no racing. But we're still laser tagging. And then...other stuff." He shot her a mischievous grin before turning his eyes back to the road. "And no, I won't tell you what kinda stuff. You'll have to wait and see."

"Woah, it's like you're reading my mind."

"I'm just skilled like-" Joe was cut off in the middle of his sentence as a car honked at him. He realized that he was kind of driving between two lanes.

Sophie burst out laughing. "Don't-" giggle, "wreck Kevin's," laughter, "car, Joseph."

"Oh shut up," he mumbled, slightly embarrassed by his poor driving skills. "We're almost there anyway."

He was right. Within two minutes they had pulled into the parking lot of "Laser Adventure" and exited the car. Sophie looked around as they entered the building. There was pretty much no one there. It would basically just be her against Joe with a couple other people thrown in. As she observed the small competition, Joe registered them on the list, putting both of their 'code names' in before returning to Sophie.

"I gave us code names," he stated.

"Without asking, I see. What's mine?"

"Super Sophie," he gave a small shrug. "I was at a loss for creative names. My code name is Danger."

"Shocker there. That's always yours."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go grab our vests and stuff. Then, you're going down Super Sophie."

"Psh, sure I am 'Danger.' Let's just go suit up," she gave him a small shove before heading into the next room. It was fairly dark and the walls were lined with vests that glowed with a variety of lights, each attached to one of the laser guns. She quickly grabbed a vest and put it on, scanning the thing to plug in her correct name.

Joe did the same then looked at her. "Let's go," he grinned, rolling up his sleeves in an attempt to look tough.

Sophie did the same, but more in a mocking way. Joe simply stuck out his tongue before his eyes drifted to her arms. "What's that?" he asked, confusion finding its way into his words. He had an idea, but guessed he was wrong. _Hoped_ he was wrong.

"Nothing," Sophie shrugged, pushing her sleeves back. "I was pulling my cat out of a fight the other day and got attacked. No big deal."

Joseph gave her a look, not truly believing the story. He opened his mouth to question further but a loud buzz drowned out his words. The buzz told players that the door was opening and they could go out into the laser tag maze thing and hide before shooting began. Without another word or look at him, Sophie was out of the room and on her way to a hiding place. Joe pushed all thoughts of the cuts out of his head and followed her lead.

* * *

The game ended in what felt like no time. Sophie had ended up beating Joe. But some guy by the name of "Grande Pollo" had definitely poned them both. Defeated, they headed back to the car.

"So what do you have planned for next?" Sophie asked.

"I'm thinking food," he stated without hesitation. "Shooting people really works up an appetite."

"I know what you mean," she nodded. "Though the way you said that makes it sound like you killed someone or something."

Joe laughed. Not exactly because she'd said something funny, but because he felt like the old Sophie was returning. "Yeah. Serial killers must be constantly starving." She laughed softly as Joe began to drive to Olive Garden, her favorite restaurant.

Sophie smiled. She too felt like her old self was returning, even if just a little bit. It was nice having Joe to hang out with. Even if he wasn't Nick.

They arrived at Olive Garden in no time and had a fairly uneventful lunch. Sophie managed to forget about Nick almost completely for a glorious hour. Joe was just ecstatic that she had cheered up so much in one day. They both felt on top of the world. Until they got back in the car. Sophie was about to ask what they were going to do next when she felt a vibration in her pocket. Her confusion showed on her face when Joe glanced over at her.

"I don't get texts very often anymore," she explained with a shrug as she opened the phone and read the message. In those few seconds, Sophie went from happy to noticeably depressed about something.

"What'd it say?" Joe asked.

She told him softly. "It's from Nick. He says we need to talk. Soon."

Joe suddenly felt a pang of anger towards his younger brother. His girlfriend had obviously been depressed lately. And now it looked like he was going to break up with her. "Tell him I'll drive you to our house," he told Sophie. He wanted to be there for her if she got hurt.

She nodded silently and texted Nick back. Joe started driving towards his house and Sophie stared out the window quietly. He could tell she was scared about what was to come of this.  
"It'll be fine," he told her, trying to sound comforting. "You two love each other. Nothing bad is going to happen to your relationship."

She merely shrugged and said nothing. It was obvious she didn't believe what he was saying so he decided it'd be better just to shut his mouth.

They arrived at the Jonas house after what felt like an eternity in that car. Joe got out quickly while Sophie took her time. He waited for her and they entered the house together. Sophie hadn't been there in so long. She used to be like another member of the family. It felt weird to be back.

Kevin heard them enter and got up from the couch to give Sophie a hug.

"Hey you. It's been forever."

"You're right." Sophie gave him a small smile as she wrapped her arms around him. She'd definitely missed Kevin. He was like the older brother she'd never had.  
"So what brings you here today?" he asked as he pulled out of the hug to look at her. "Last I heard you and Joe were spending the day together." He glanced up at Joe for an answer when Sophie looked away, indicating that she didn't want to answer.

Joe explained. "Nick wanted to talk to her."

"Oh," Kevin nodded. "Well he's upstairs in his room. Go on up."

Sophie thanked him and took off her coat. It caused her sleeves to push up but she quickly pulled them down, praying that Kevin and Joe didn't notice. They didn't appear to and she hung the coat up before heading up the stairs to Nick's room.

She knocked once before letting herself in. Nick was seated on the bed, playing guitar. He looked up when she entered. "Hey."

"Hey," she said softly, shutting the door and taking a seat next to him on the bed. "So you wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah," he nodded, setting the guitar down behind them. "Us."

"What about us?"

Nick hesitated before blurting out "I think we should break up."

Sophie's eyes grew. She wanted to say something, but it felt like her throat was closing up and she couldn't get any words out. Nick continued talking.

"The past few weeks have been great for me. But it's kind of made me realize that I want someone else in my life."

"Ellie?" she managed to choke out.

"No..." he said slowly, trying to choose his words correctly. "I just really need someone who can understand this music thing and who helps me out with it. You're an amazing girl, Soph, and I still love you. But as a friend. I just don't think we're right for each other."

She nodded silently. Tears were stinging her eyes but she was using everything she had in her to keep them from falling. Nick wanted someone like Ellie, even if he didn't want Ellie exactly. That much was obvious. That stung Sophie almost more than the fact that he was dumping her.

"I should go," she said after a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry." Nick reached out to hug her but she shrunk away from it before standing up. He nodded. He guessed he deserved that.

Without another word exchanged Sophie left the room. She shut the door quietly behind her, despite the fact that she so desperately wanted to slam it in his face and scream. But she thought if she was quiet, she could sneak out without Kevin or Joe noticing.

She tip-toed down the stairs. Kevin and Joe were both watching television. Facing away from both the stairs and the door. She managed to quietly grab her coat and sneak out the front door without them turning around.

* * *

Joe was watching TV with Kevin but his mind was upstairs with Nick and Sophie. He was dying to know what was going on up there. After an hour of television, he looked over at his older brother. "They've been up there a while. I guess nothing bad could have happened."

Kevin shrugged. "I guess not."

"Well, I'm going to go up and check." Joe stood up and walked up the stairs to Nick's room. He was surprised to hear nothing but silence on the other side of the door. When he opened it, he was even more surprised to see Nick sitting alone. "Where's Sophie?!" Joe demanded.

Nick shrugged. "She left almost an hour ago."

"What? Why?"

"I broke up with her," Nick said softly. That sent Joe over the edge.

"NICHOLAS! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! HOW COULD YOU HURT HER LIKE THAT! HAVE YOU SEEN HER LATELY! SHE'S MISERABLE!"

"I just had to..." Nick was taken aback by Joe's sudden outburst. "She wasn't right for me. She seemed to take it well. She just went home..."

That didn't appease Joe. He shot Nick one more disgusted look before slamming the door and heading back downstairs to Kevin.

"Sophie left. Nick dumped her."

"So she _walked _home? In the cold? Alone?"

"I guess," Joe said as he grabbed his car keys and threw a coat on. "I'm going over to her house to check on her."

Kevin nodded in approval before Joe left.

Joe spent the car ride to Sophie's house remembering the days events up to her break up with Nick, trying to figure how depressed she would be. He was halfway to her house when he remembered the laser tag game. When they had put on the vests. He remembered seeing cuts on her wrists.

"Shit," he muttered, stepping on the gas and praying he'd reach Sophie before something bad happened.


	4. Chapter 4

**Kay so I'm surprised I got this out so quickly. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed and encouraged me :) It's much shorter than chapter 3, but I think chapter 5 is going to be long. I dunno. I don't have THAT much more to write. **

* * *

Joe was completely over the speed limit as he raced to Sophie's house, terrified that she may have done something bad. He couldn't believe it took him that long to register the cuts he'd seen on her wrists. It all made sense. All he felt right now was a mixture of terror, guilt and a small bit of relief that there were no police on the road to pull him over for his massive speed limit violation.

He got to Sophie's house in record time. The lights in the upstairs window told him that she was home already. It wasn't uncommon for her to get home from their house quickly. She liked to take detours through peoples yards and what not. Something that one can't exactly do while driving.

Once the fact that she was home registered in his mind, Joe got out of the car and ran up to the front door. The normally open door was locked. He cussed under his breath before running around to the back door. If it was locked, ringing the bell wouldn't do any good. Sophie obviously didn't want visitors. His heart raced as he bolted up the back patio steps to the sliding glass door. He breathed out a sigh of relief when it opened. He silently thanked God as he bolted inside and up the steps to Sophie's room. She wasn't in there. Next he tried the bathroom. The door was locked but he could see the light underneath it. When he pressed his ear up against the door, he heard the faint sound of sobbing. She was definitely in there.

"Sophie?" he asked gently, knocking on the door. "Sophie please let me in."

His ear was still pressed against the door or he wouldn't have been able to hear her faint reply. "Please go."

"No." His knocking continued. "Let me in."

She didn't respond. He cussed again, trying desperately to remember where the key was to get in the bathroom. He knew it was in her room, but he couldn't remember where. She'd only ever told him once. And that was a while ago. He hadn't committed it to memory, not seeing any use for the information at the time.

He continued knocking and trying to get Sophie to let him in as he racked his memory. Where could that key be? After a minute or two, he gave up knocking. Sophie obviously wasn't going to let him in. He turned and went back into her room, looking around and trying to figure where that key could be. It suddenly hit him when he saw her desk. He hurried to it and opened the bottom drawer. Frantically he dug through old papers until he found it.

"Yes!" he exclaimed as he dashed back to the bathroom and quickly unlocked the door. He gasped when he saw what was waiting inside the room: Sophie was sitting on the floor, her head resting on the wall. Her skin was pale and her arm was bleeding like crazy. It looked like she'd cut way too deep this time.

"Oh Sophie," Joe whispered, moving to her side. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her arm, trying his hardest to stop the bleeding. "We need to get you to a hospital."

"No!" Sophie managed to get out in her weak voice. "No not there. Please no."

"Yes. This is deep."

"I'll be fine. Please... just don't make me go there."

Joe pressed the towel to her arm and said nothing. He was trying hard not to cry. He knew that he had to be strong for Sophie. "Why?" he asked simply once the bleeding had gone down a bit. His eyes remained trained on her arm. He didn't think he could look in her eyes and still remain this solid.

"It was the only way to make it go away."

"Make what go away?"

"The pain." Her voice was barely a whisper but the words seemed to Joe as if she was screaming them.

"I'm so sorry, Soph." He looked up, into her eyes. Tears stung his own eyes but she didn't seem to notice. "I should have known something was going on. I shouldn't have let this happen to you. I feel so guilty."

"Don't," she told him. She placed her hand next to his on the towel. "You can let go. I've got it."

"When did it start?"

"The night of the variety show. After Nick called me."

"I swear I'm going to kill that kid," Joe muttered.

"He didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who was all wrong. All wrong for him and you guys and everything."

Joe could see a new round of tears forming in her eyes. He made sure she had the towel before letting go and wrapping his arms around her. "You're not all wrong, Sophie. There's nothing wrong with you at all. You're perfect just the way you are."

She sobbed into his shoulder. "If I'm so perfect why doesn't he want me? Why does he want her?"

"Because he's crazy," Joe whispered, holding her close.

The two sat in the bathroom like that for almost an hour. They didn't talk much. The only conversation came from Sophie telling Joe about the cutting and Joe convincing her that she needed to stop. And him promising not to take her to the hospital so long as she didn't do it anymore.

Eventually, they both stood up. Sophie was dizzy and Joe put his hand on her back to steady her. "Come on," he said. "Let's go back to my house."

"What? No... I can't go back there."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight tonight, Sophie. I'm worried about you."

"Please," she begged. "I can't see Nick right now."

"Then you just stay with Kevin. It won't be long. I'll just go change and grab some stuff then we can come back here for the night, okay?"

Sophie opened her mouth to argue but Joe just looked at her, his gaze firm. Instead of pleading with him for the freedom to stay home, she reluctantly agreed to go back to his house with him. "Promise it won't take long?"

"Promise. Now let's wrap up your arm before we go."

Sophie silently kneeled back on the cold tile floor of the bathroom and pulled some gauze out of the cabinet. She then held it out to Joe. "Help me wrap it?"

"Sure," he nodded. He took the roll from her and gently held her arm so that he could wrap up the massive cut. Once it was done, he took a quick look at her clothes. "You should change. You're, er, covered in blood."

She bit her lip and nodded. "I'll just be a minute."

"I'll wait downstairs," Joe told her as he walked to the staircase and she headed into her room. Only a few minutes later, she emerged from the stairwell and into the main hallway where Joe waited. Her makeup had been fixed and her new clothes were clean. He gave her a small smile and led the way out to his car. The ride back to the Jonas house was silent, save the soft flow of music that Joe had turned on. When they arrived, they both got out without a word and headed to the front door.

"Hey!" Joe yelled.

"Hey!" The yell they heard came from the living room. It was Kevin's voice accompanied by one that sounded a lot more feminine.

"Kevin's probably in there with Genevieve. You can go wait in there. I'll go change."

Sophie nodded and headed into the front room. Joe heard his brother and his brother's girlfriend greet her before he headed upstairs to change and maybe take a quick shower. He walked into his room to grab clothes. When he exited towards the bathroom, he was surprised to see Nick standing in the hallway, staring at him.

"Why are you so bloody, Joe?"

Joe just glared at him. He was still disgusted by his brother's behavior towards Sophie. "Shut up," he spat as he pushed past him and into the bathroom, leaving Nick alone in the hallway, confused.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks again to all the reviewers! I think it's gonna be two more chapters and it should be up fairly soon, since I have the very end written :D Anyway, I hope you like it. **

* * *

While Joe was upstairs showering and changing, Sophie sat awkwardly in the living room with Kevin and his girlfriend Genevieve. She and Gen had been friends for years and she'd known Kevin for as long as she could remember, so it shouldn't have been awkward. But it was. The two of them had obviously noticed the bandage wrapped around her arm, despite her shirt covering it best it could. They'd also realized that something was definitely wrong with her. Kevin hadn't seen much of Sophie lately, but as long as he'd known her she'd always been vibrant and bouncy. Now she was withdrawn and her usually bright eyes were dull.

"So..." Genevieve tried to start up a conversation as the show they had been watching ended and Kevin turned the television off. "How're you and Nick?" Instantly, she regretted asking it. She watched Sophie's expression drop even farther.

"He, uh, dumped me. Earlier today."

Genevieve's eyes widened. "Oh, Soph! I'm so sorry!"

Sophie simply shrugged. "It's okay." Her gaze shifted back to the TV as Gen shot Kevin a look that said 'help me.'

Kevin desperately tried to think of a topic of conversation to cheer Sophie up and hopefully ease the tension filling the room.

"So, how 'bout them Yankees?"

The two girls groaned inwardly.

* * *

Joe emerged from the shower in much less time than usual. He dressed quickly and dried his hair some before heading to his room to grab some clothes for the night. He was surprised to see someone already in his room. It was Nick, sitting on the bed, obviously waiting for answers.

"What?" Joe growled, venom in his voice.

"I just want to know what's going on." Nick's voice was soft. Joe thought he could detect what sounded like fear.

Joe glared at him before shoving some clothes into a bag for the night. His failure to respond didn't derail Nick.

"Please just tell me what's happening. I know something's up."

"You want to know what's up!?" Joe wheeled around, yelling at his younger brother. "Fine! You know why I was covered in blood?!" His voice began to escalate. "Because I was helping Sophie who had _CUT _herself. Who has BEEN cutting herself for weeks!" Nick's eyes widened but Joe didn't stop. "And you know why she did it?" By this point he was practically screaming. "She cut herself because of YOU. Yes, Nick. YOU. This is all your fault." He turned and began exiting the room.

"I didn't-"

Joe cut Nick off mid-sentence. "Rot in hell."

Nick was left stunned, sitting on the bed, as Joe slammed the door behind him.

Also stunned, were the three people sitting on the couch a floor below. They'd all heard Joe yelling at Nick. Genevieve and Kevin stared at Sophie in shock. She stared down at her arm, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Sophie..." Gen began. "Is it true?"

She nodded, not looking up.

Genevieve got up and wrapped her arms around her younger friend. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea this was going on."

"It's okay," Sophie told her softly. Gen gave her a gentle squeeze before returning to her spot on the couch next to Kevin.

"We're always here for you, you know that?" Kevin said.

She nodded.

The room went silent again. No one knew just what to say. Luckily, it wasn't silent for long as Joe came down the stairs and walked to Sophie's side. "Ready to go?"

She stood up quickly, nodding. They quickly said goodbye to Kevin and Genevieve before heading out to the car.

As soon as they were gone, Gen whispered. "Wow... I had no idea."

"Me either," Kevin replied. They were both in total shock.

"And Joe said it's Nick's fault...Damn, he must have been a total asshole."

As if he knew they were talking about him, Nick entered the room, hurt written plainly across his face. "Hey guys."

Kevin just looked at him and shook his head, disappointed in Nick. "Man you must have really treated Sophie like crap."

Genevieve looked at him with more disgust than he thought was possible. She turned her face from Nick to Kevin. "I'm gonna go." She turned back to Nick as she stood up to leave. As she headed towards the door she stopped and stared at Nick. Pure hatred seeped into her words. "Don't fuck with Sophie again, you douche-bag." Before he had a chance to respond, she was gone.

He turned and looked at Kevin in disbelief. "How could you let her say that?"

"Because she's right."

* * *

"They know."

Joe looked over at Sophie. They were about halfway to her house and this was the first thing she'd said to him. "What?"

"Kevin and Genevieve. They heard you yell at Nick... Now everyone's going to know." Her voice was faint. Partly because she was talking softly and partly because she was staring out the window, away from him.

"Soph... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong."

"What?" Joe was shocked. He expected Sophie to be angry with him.

She shook her head. "You were just being a good friend." She turned and looked at him as they pulled into the driveway. "Thank you." She leaned over and planted a light kiss on his cheek before getting out of the car and heading inside. Joe took it all in for a moment before leaping out and following her in.

"So it's only eight. What should we do?" Joe asked as he tossed his bag on the couch.

"Let's make dinner. I'm starving."

Joe nodded, suddenly realizing how hungry he was. "Good plan. What would you like?"

She shrugged. "Macaroni and cheese?"

"Excellent choice."

The two made the dinner quietly then sat in the living room on the couch with their bowls. Joe flipped through channels, looking for something to watch. Sophie stopped him when she saw that there was a marathon of America's Next Top Model on. "Can we watch it," she begged. Joe groaned and reluctantly agreed. She smiled. "Thank you."

They watched television for a while, making fun of the girls and the show. They almost forgot what had happened only hours before. Eventually, it got quiet and Joe glanced over at Sophie. She was curled up in a small ball. Her head rested on the armrest and her hair had fallen so that it slightly covered her eyes. She was fast asleep. A small smile formed on his face. She looked so peaceful and he hated to ruin it, but he knew he had to.

"Sophie?" he spoked softly, gently shaking her shoulder. "Soph, wake up."

She groaned, swatting his hand. "Just a couple more minutes."

"Come on. Just get up so that you can change and we can re-wrap your arm. Then you can go to sleep for real."

She groaned again, but this time sat up. "Fine. But can you carry me upstairs? I'm so beat."

He laughed as he stood up. "Hop on," Joe commanded as he turned so that his back was facing her. She stood up as well and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as she jumped onto his back. Joe grabbed his bag and headed up the stairs. Sophie rested her head lightly on his shoulder, still obviously quite tired. Once they made it upstairs, Joe walked into her room and set her gently on the bed. "I'll go get the gauze," he told her before going into the bathroom. He came back seconds later with the bandage roll. "Put out your arm."

Sophie pulled off her long sleeved shirt so that he could get at the cut better. She was wearing a gray tank top underneath so it wasn't awkward. Well, it was less awkward. Joe still looked kind of nervous.

"I'll do it," she offered, sensing Joe's discomfort. He gave her a thankful smile and excused himself to the bathroom to change. When he returned, Sophie's arm was re-wrapped, she was wearing pajama pants and had set up a mattress on the floor, complete with blankets and pillows.

"Wow, you're quick."

"I set up a place for you to sleep," she said quietly. "If it's uncomfortable you can have the bed though. I don't mind."

"I can sleep downstairs, Soph. Or in the guest room."

"No!" Joe looked at her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Her voice softened again as a bright shade of pink crept across her cheeks. "I just really don't want to be alone right now."

He smiled. "This'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Sophie returned his smile and he placed his bag on the floor. "Now we should both get some sleep. It's been a long day." She nodded. Joe continued. "If you need me in the middle of the night, wake me up, okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Joe."

"Anytime." He took a step forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. Her arms fit perfectly around him as she returned the gesture. "Now get some sleep," he told her, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head before they pulled away and returned to their respective beds.

"Goodnight, Joe." Sophie turned off the light.

"Goodnight, Sophie."


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, this chapter seems a lot shorter now than it did when I wrote it. Eh. I think the writing is a little awkward, so sorry about that. But this was really difficult for me to write. I dunno why, really. It just was. I'm going to TRY to get Chapter 7 up, ASAP. But I leave for camp for a week on Sunday. My goal is to get it all up by then, but I dunno about that :)**

**Anyway, please review. Let me know what you think of this chapter.  
And thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. You're the best :D**

* * *

Sophie awoke to the hum of her cell phone vibrating. She quickly reached over and silenced it before it could wake up Joe as well. She sat up and glanced over at him. Still asleep. She wasn't surprised. Joe always slept late and it always took him forever to wake up. As quietly as she could, she grabbed her cell phone and tip toed out of the room and into the hallway. Once the door was safely closed behind her, she checked the new text message she had received. She was shocked to see that it was from Ellie:

_"I talked to Nick. Call me."_

She sighed. She knew that the word about her cutting was bound to spread quickly. And she knew she may as well call Ellie now. She'd have to face it eventually. She scrolled through the contacts list on her cell phone as she walked downstairs. She didn't want to wake Joe.

She clicked call as she reached Ellie's number in the phone. As it rang, Sophie sat down on the couch, absentmindedly running her fingers over the scars on her arm.

"Sophie!" Ellie sounded relieved. "Oh, I was so scared you wouldn't want to talk to me. Can I come over? I want to talk face to face."

"Oh, uh, sure," Sophie was a bit stunned by all the words Ellie had thrown at her so quickly. "How are you going to get here?"

"I'm at Nick's. Kevin and Gen can drive us over. See you in a few!"

As she heard Ellie hang up, Sophie leaned back, rubbing her eyes. Ellie had said "us." That probably meant her and Nick. She sighed. She didn't really want to deal with Nick. But Gen and Kevin would be there. And Joe was just upstairs. She silently convinced herself that she could handle it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a frantic knock at the front door. Of course. She'd locked it the night before. Ellie and the others couldn't just walk in like usual. Sophie stood up and walked to the door. She was surprised to see only two people standing in front of her. It was Ellie and Genevieve.

The shock must have shown on her face because Gen quickly explained. "Kevin had to work so I drove Ellie over." Sophie nodded, silently thanking Genevieve with a small smile for not bringing along Nick.

Almost as soon as the girls had entered the house, Ellie flung her arms around Sophie, holding her in a tight hug. "Oh, Soph. Nick told me you cut yourself but he didn't say why. Please tell me why so I can help you through this."

Her concern sounded fake to Sophie but she hugged her back anyway before starting back towards the living room. "Wait." She turned around to see Ellie looking at her. "Uh, do you mind if it's just _us_?" She motioned with her hand, indicating that she meant just herself and Sophie.

"Oh, uh, sure. Is that okay Gen?"

Genevieve nodded reluctantly. "I'll wait in the car." Before leaving, she gave Sophie a quick hug. "Call me later. I want to hear everything." Sophie gave her a small smile before she exited. The two remaining girls continued on to the living room to talk. Sophie took her favorite seat on the couch, and Ellie sat across from her on the armchair.

"So, please, tell me everything."

Sophie bit her lip. "Everything?"

"Everything."

"It started the night of the talent show. Nick called me. And he wouldn't stop talking about how amazing you are. Which sucked. Since I've always been jealous of you and that was like putting salt in the cut. So I started cutting. Things got worse when they added you to the band. I'd cut more often. I'd cut deeper. It was the only way to let out the pain."

"Why did that make you cut more often, Sophie? It's not like I was rubbing it in your face that I was let in and you didn't..."

"No. You weren't. But you were all Nick talked about. He started ignoring me. You all started ignoring me."

"No we didn't!"

Sophie's eyes blazed with anger as she pushed up the sleeves of her shirt. "If you weren't ignoring me, how come none of you noticed this?"

Ellie's eyes widened as she stared at her arms. There were cuts covering almost every inch of skin that she could see. They started at her wrist and from what she could see, went all the way up to her elbow. She reached out and delicately touched the scars with her index finger. Sophie quickly pulled her arm away.

"I'm sorry, Sophie. But you can't just blame us. It's not like we told you to go sit in a corner and cut yourself."

"You just don't get it, do you? Sure you didn't _tell _me to do it. But you _drove _me to the edge and this is what happened. Not to mention, none of you cared enough to notice that there was even anything wrong with me." _Except Joe..._ she added silently to herself.

"Ugh, Sophie! Stop being so difficult! I'm trying to apologize!"

"Just so you can feel better about yourself. You didn't really care what happened to me so long as you don't have anything on your conscience. Right?"

"Stop it, please! You're my best friend!"

Sophie shook her head as she stood up. "_Was _your best friend. You obviously didn't care enough about me to realize when I needed you most. Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?"

Ellie stared at her, speechless.

"Maybe you should just go now," Sophie said, her voice shaky.

"Sophie..."

"Just go, Ellie."

She looked at Sophie for a moment before turning and walking back out of the house the way she and Gen had come in.

Sophie waited until she had gone before collapsing on the couch, rubbing her eyes.

* * *

"She told me I'm not her friend anymore." Ellie was sitting next to Nick on his bed, sobbing into his shirt. "She was just so mean."

"It's okay, Ellie," Nick responded quietly. He wasn't really thinking about the girl who he had his arms wrapped around. He was thinking about the girl who he had driven to cut herself. He still didn't know what exactly he'd done and he really just wanted the chance to talk to her.

Nick was ripped from his own thoughts by Ellie's voice. "Are you even listening to me, Nick?" He looked down at her. Apparently she'd still been talking.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course."

"I just don't know why Sophie's being so difficult."  
"Me either," Nick responded, not really paying attention.

She opened her mouth to call him out on not paying attention again when there was a knock at Nick's door. "Come in!" he called, letting go of Ellie as the door opened. It was Kevin.

"Ellie's mom is here," he stated simply before leaving.

She stood up, looking at Nick expectantly. She was obviously waiting for a goodbye hug or something. He stood up and gave her the hug before walking her downstairs. "Bye, Ell"

"See you tomorrow?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

She smiled and waved at him as she headed out to the car that waited in the driveway.

"She got over that pretty fast," Nick muttered to himself as he shut the door.

"Yeah, she did."

Nick was surprised to hear a voice behind him and he turned around quickly, just to be face to face with Genevieve. Her hands were on her hips and he could tell by the look in her eyes that she was angry.

"Don't tell me you believed her. I had to listen to her sob all the way here from Sophie's about how horrible Sophie was. Please tell me you saw through her load of crap too."

Reluctantly, Nick nodded. He felt like he was betraying his friend by not believing her. But at the same time, it was pretty obvious that Ellie just wanted to feel better about herself. She wasn't really all that worried about Sophie at all.

"Good," Gen continued. "Now all you have to do is talk to her."

"What?!"

"Talk.To.Her." she spoke slowly, as if talking to someone of extremely low intelligence. "You know. Make things right."

"I don't know, Gen. It'll be weird. I mean, I just broke up with her yesterday. And she's already had to deal with Ellie..."

Genevieve ignored his reasoning and tossed him the phone. "Call her."

She gave him a tiny smile before turning around and walking back to the living room, most likely to go back to watching television and making out with Kevin.

Nick repeated her words quietly to himself as he stared at the phone as if it were some item from a totally different planet. "Call her."

* * *

Ellie had left less than an hour ago, and surprisingly, Sophie was feeling fine. She'd made herself frozen waffles and was now watching 'The Price is Right' as she ate. Joe was still fast asleep upstairs.

She was quietly rooting for yet another hundred-year-old woman when her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Sophie groaned as she set her plate of waffles down to answer it. She didn't even bother checking the caller id.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sophie."

Her heart stopped momentarily and she suddenly found herself unable to breathe, much less talk. It was Nick.


	7. Chapter 7

**Once again, this one is fairly shortish. It came out surprisingly fast. I guess I was inspired? I'm still shocked I got it all out so quickly. I just kinda went with what I was feeling. Sort of. Anyway, leave me reviews. I don't know for sure how good it is, since, like I said, it came out wicked fast. So it'd be nice to hear feedback. :) Many thanks. **

* * *

"Sophie?" Nick repeated. She hadn't responded and he was worried that she was just going to completely ignore him. He supposed it probably served him right, but he'd at least like to know exactly what he did before he got the silent treatment.

Sophie was sitting on the couch, trying desperately to regain her power of speech. She clutched the phone with one hand and with the other she held on tightly to the pillow on the couch next to her. It was like a security thing. Nick said her name another time before she found her voice.

"Hey Nick."

A faint smile crept across his face. She wasn't ignoring him. This was a good start. "Uh...what's up?"

"Nothing?" Sophie's reply was quiet, her face clearly showed confusion but it was only hinted at in her voice, so Nick didn't catch on.

"Oh, cool. I'm not doing much either."

"Nick, why did you call me?" she asked abruptly. She wasn't particularly enjoying this small talk. She wanted to get to the point and get off the phone as soon as she could.

"Oh!" He was caught off guard. He had been hoping to carefully bring up the subject, not just leap into it like this. But Sophie really gave him no choice. "Well, I talked to Ellie about what you said to her earlier today. She was really upset."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Sorry." They both knew she didn't mean it.

"You don't have to be. I just want to get the whole story now. From you. Not rely on her for my information."

"You want to know why I cut myself," she corrected.

"Well... yeah. I do. Everyone's telling me it's my fault. And I'd like to know why Gen called me a douche-bag and why Joe told me to rot in hell."

"They said that?" Sophie's voice sounded simply curious. She was glad he couldn't see her face, because it was pretty obvious by her smile that she was happily surprised that her friends stook up for her like that.

"Yeah, they did. Now can you _please_ tell me why?"

Sophie's smile disappeared almost instantly. Now came the hard part. She tightened her grasp on the pillow.

"It's complicated."

"I have time."

She sighed, realizing there was no way Nick was going to let her get out of it. He'd always been stubborn. "Okay. But let me tell you what I have to without interruptions, okay?"

He agreed and Sophie took a deep breath before launching into the same story she'd already had to tell Joe and Ellie. Only this time it was much, much harder. Joe had been the easiest to tell, because it hadn't really been his fault. Ellie had been tough, but it helped Sophie that she could see the reactions as she went. Plus, Ellie didn't truly seem to care anyway. With Nick, however, she couldn't see his reactions, it had been a good deal his fault, _and _he really seemed to care about her.

It took her a while, but she eventually got it all out. Nick stayed true to his promise and didn't interrupt while she was speaking. That helped. He didn't even try to say things during her frequent pauses, used to compose herself.

"That's it," she told him softly once she had finished. "You can say whatever you want to say now."

There was a short silence before Nick responded. "Wow."

He was obviously hurt and surprised by the entire story. Sophie felt guilty for making him feel bad, but she also felt relieved. She'd finally gotten it all off her chest and told Nick the things she had been wanting to tell him for a while now.

"I'm so sorry, Soph," he continued. "I should have realized something was up. You're my girlfriend, for crying out loud. I shouldn't have been so insensitive. I'm so sorry I neglected you like that. I truly didn't mean to. I was just so caught up in everything. I feel awful. I can't believe I was so horrible it drove you to self mutilation."

As he paused for a breath, Sophie softly said one word. "Was."

"What?" Nick wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly. Her voice was barely a whisper. And if he had heard right, what did she mean by 'was?'

"Was," she repeated, her voice stronger. "I was you're girlfriend. Not anymore."

"Soph, I know we broke up but I was thinking that maybe now that we've-"

She cut him off. "We didn't 'break up,' Nick. You dumped me. It's different."

"Okay fine. I know I ended things between us but that was before I knew everything that has been going on. Now that we're both being completely honest, we could give it another go. Forget this whole breaking up ordeal ever even happened."

He inhaled slowly as he waited for a reply.

Sophie closed her eyes that were filled with tears. One escaped and rolled down her cheek as she spoke up, breaking the momentary silence. "No."

"What?"

"You heard me. I said no."

"But I don't get it..."

"After what you put me through, you expect me to just forgive you and come rushing back into your arms? I don't think so."

Nick was shocked. He wasn't exactly expecting this kind of response. "But I can change! Make more room for you in my life. And I can help you get through what you're going through right now."

"You shouldn't have to try to make room for me in your life. I should already be a part of your life. And I don't need your help, Nick."

"But-"

"But what? You hurt me. You don't understand how badly you hurt me. I can't just rush back to you like this."

He sighed. "What if we started as friends? We could work back to what we were?"

"I don't think so. Friends? Maybe someday. But I don't think we'll ever be what we were, ever again."

"Ever?" he asked, still slightly shocked by her response.

"Ever," she repeated firmly.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry Nick, but I just can't okay? Try to understand, please? You hurt me so bad. I don't want to risk putting myself through that again. But we can be friends again someday, if that helps at all."

"Yeah." He spoke slowly. "It helps." Sophie smiled faintly. "I should go, Soph. I really am sorry though."

"I know you are. It's okay. Bye."

"Bye." They both hung up at the same time. Nick sat back on his bed. He felt covered in guilt. He really had deserved the harsh words he'd received from Gen and Joe. And he didn't feel like he deserved Sophie's forgiveness, even though he had kind of expected it. But he also felt slightly relieved. She'd said they could be friends, even if they couldn't be anything else. And he'd have to be content with that.

Sophie leaned back on the couch. She too was relieved. Relieved that she'd finally jumped over the biggest hurdle she knew she would have to face on this track she'd put herself on. She closed her eyes and smiled. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she barely registered the sound of Joe thumping down the stairs and into the room.

"What're you so happy about?" he asked, his voice still tired.

She shrugged, not opening her eyes. "I just got off the phone with Nick."

"What happened?" Joe asked, his voice perking up some with curiosity.

"I told him the whole story. He apologized. Asked me to be his girlfriend again-"

"So you two are together now?"

Sophie's eyes snapped opened. Joe sounded almost angry. "No," she told him, looking at him oddly. "We aren't. I told him there wasn't a chance. Why do you care so much?"

He relaxed some and let out a loud exaggerated yawn. "I just don't think he deserves for you to go back to him. He was a real jerk."

Sophie shrugged, letting the subject drop. "Anyway," she looked down at her forgotten waffles that were now cold. "You want some breakfast? Mine got cold so I'm gonna go heat it up and I can make you something too?"

"Sure. Cereal, please."

She gave him a smile as she got off the couch and walked into the kitchen. Joe couldn't help but smile after her. She was happier than she'd been in a while now that she'd gotten through the hard parts. He was still worried about her, of course. But for now, he was just glad that her spirits had been raised so much and that the old Sophie seemed to be returning.


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh goodness. Here it is. The final chapter. Which is, oddly enough, the third one I wrote. Which is why it got up soooo fast. All it needed was some quick edititing. :)**

**Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed reading this. It's definitely been tough to write, but I liked it. For more stories by me go check out my _actual_ account 'JONASbeBALLIN.' This one got posted on my old forgotten account for various reasons that don't matter anymore. And I don't feel like moving it. **

**And just so you know. This chapter takes place maybe a week or so after chapter 7. I didn't really feel like specifying. Please review! I'll definitely write more in the future. **

* * *

Joe knocked once on the familiar wooden door before letting himself in. Sophie was sitting on her bed, reading quietly. She looked up when he entered and a smile made its way across her face.

"Hey Joe."

"Hey Sophie," he returned her smile. "How are you?" Joe asked the same question every day, out of worry. And every day, she gave him the same response.

"I'm good."

"Sorry I'm late. But I have something for you."

She tilted her head, her expression changing from simply content to curious. "For me?" Her tone showed her surprise.

"Yeah, hold on." Joe walked back into the hallway and returned seconds later. He was carrying his guitar case and wearing his usual goofy smile. He sat down on the edge of her bed. "You know how no one thought I could write a serious song?" Sophie nodded. "Well, I did. And I wrote it for you."

Her expression changed again, this time to one of pure excitement. "I want to hear it."

"I thought so," Joe grinned, pulling the guitar out of its case. He strummed a few times then began playing, occasionally looking up at her as he sang.

"_I walked across a crowded street_

_a sea of eyes cut through me._

_And I saw you in the middle. _

_Your upset face. You wear it well._

_You camouflage the way you feel_

_when everything's the matter._

_We've all been down that road before_

_Searching for that something more._

_World's are spinning round_

_There's no time for slowing down _

_So won't you take a breath, just take a breath_

_People change and promises are broken_

_Clouds can move and skies will be wide open_

_So don't forget to take a breath._

_We blink our eyes, life's rearranged_

_To our surprise it's still okay_

_It's the way things happen_

_Summer comes and then it goes._

_Hold on tight and brace for cold_

_and it's only for a moment_

_We've all been down that road before_

_Searching for that something more._

_World's are spinning round_

_There's no time for slowing down _

_So won't you take a breath, just take a breath_

_People change and promises are broken_

_Clouds can move and skies will be wide open_

_So don't forget to take a breath._

_Life isn't suffocating_

_Air isn't overrated_

_World's are spinning round_

_There's no time for slowing down _

_So won't you take a breath, just take a breath_

_People change and promises are broken_

_Clouds can move and skies will be wide open_

_So don't forget to take a breath._

When he finished, he looked at Sophie, waiting for her reaction. At first, she said nothing. Joe thought he saw tears in her eyes.

"That was amazing," she told him softly. "I can't believe you wrote that for me."

Joe smiled widely, pleased with her response. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it!"  
"Thanks, Soph."

Sophie bit her lip, looking at Joe. "Can I tell you something, Jay?" she asked, using her old nickname for him.

"Anything," he responded.

"I just went through the hardest time of my life," she said softly. Joe remained quiet for once, waiting for her to continue. "And at first, I thought these feelings were just because you helped me so much. But now I know that I was wrong. It's more than that. Joe, I love you."

"Sophie-" Joe began. But she didn't let him interrupt. She plowed forward.

"And I know you probably don't feel the same but I had to tell you. It didn't seem right to keep it all in like this. You've always been there for me. When I was broken, you were the one who fixed me. It's only fair to let you know that I feel this way even if you don't return-"

Joe interrupted again. This time by pressing his lips firmly against hers.

Sophie was shocked but after a brief second, relaxed into the kiss. Joe's arms found their way around her small frame and she rested her hands on his shoulders as the kiss began to intensify. After a moment, they had to pull apart for air.

"Wow," she whispered.

Joe smiled. "I love you too, Sophie."

"I guessed that much from the kiss."

He laughed. "Yeah, that was kind of a giveaway."

She smiled as Joe placed his guitar on the ground before wrapping his arms back around her. Sophie rested her head on his chest, positioned so that she could feel his heartbeat. "This feels perfect," she murmured as he held her close.

"It does."

"So...are we like together now?"

Joe hesitated. "Uh, I guess so."

"You guess so?" Sophie lifted her head, looking up at him. "What do you mean, Joe?"

"I mean... how am I gonna explain this to Nick?"

"You'll think of something. You always do. Right?"

"Right," Joe nodded pulling her back into him. "Now that I have you, I'm not letting you go just because of what my brother may think."

Sophie smiled up at him before she kissed him lightly. Joe smiled and she returned her head to its spot on his chest. They sat like that for an eternity.

"Thank you," Sophie whispered as she began to fall asleep. "For fixing me."

"I hardly did anything. Just kept an eye on you."

She shook her head, burrowing her face in his shirt causing her words to become muffled. But Joe heard them loud and clear. "You did everything. I love you, Joe."

"I love you, Sophie."


End file.
